Wagon-box



Patented Dec. 27,1898. T. FORSTNEB.

WAGON BOX.

(Application filed June 25, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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n4: NORFHS PiTEflS cn. Puomumo, WASHINGTON, D. c

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS FORSTNER, OF SIGEL, MINNESOTA.

WAGON-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 616,778, dated December 27', 1898. Application filed June 25, 1898. Serial No. 684, 445. (No model.)

of being quickly knocked down and expedi-- tiously and conveniently set up and secured in working position.

Another object of the invention is to so construct a collapsible wagon-body that when it is set up it will be as firm as a box having all of its parts permanently connected.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collapsible vehicle-box capable of application to the running-gear of any bolstervehicle.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved wagon-box. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the improved box, looking toward the rear of the wagon.

A represents the forward bolster of the running-gear of a wagon, and B the rear bolsterofsaidrunning ear. Thebodyofthebox consists, primarily, of two or more bottom planks 10, which are brought together with an interlocking or overlapping connection 11, as is particularly shown in Fig. 3, and side boards 12, which are adapted to rest at their bottom edges upon the upper faces of the outermost bottom boards 10. The body is practically completed by the addition of a front board 13 and a rear board 14.

In order that the bottom boards shall not slip on the bolsters, battens 15 and 16 are secured transversely upon their under surfaces, the distance between the opposing battens being sufficient to receive the upper portion of the forwardbolster A. In addition to the bottom battens 15 and 16 a forward face of each of the bottom boards 10, like-.

wise a rear upper batten 18, the forward upper batten 17 being adapted to have bearing against the outer face of the front board 13, while the rear upper batten 18 is arranged to have bearing against the outer face of the end or tail board 14 of the body, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. In order that the side boards 12 shall not slip inwardly when placed upon the bottom boards, vertical guides 10, which are in the form of battens, are secured to the outer faces of the said side boards 12, preferably at or near their centers, and the lower ends of the guides 19 are arranged to extend downwardly to an engagement with the outer side edges of the outer bottom planks 10, as shown particularly in Fig. 2. Handles 20 are also preferably secured to the outer faces of the side boards 12 at or near the guides 19. The body is clamped together and held in proper position on the running-gear by means of a clamp C, which clamp comprises vertical arms 21, that extend upwardly along the outer face of each side board 12 to a point above the upper edges of the said side boards, and a bottom section 22, which is carried across all of the bottom boards 10 of the body, as shown in Fig. 3.

Lock-levers 23, preferably of angular formation, are located in the upper ends of the side or vertical members 21 of the clamps, and the horizontal portions of the lock-levers extend over the upper edges of the sides 12 of the body, and their vertical members,

when the locks are in operative position, extend down along and in engagement with the inner faces of the side pieces 12 of the body, as is also shown in Fig. 3. When the locking devices 23 are manipulated so that their vertical sections are in the upright position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the side pieces of the wagon-body may be readily removed, together with the bottom boards, since the clamp G will drop to the ground. The body is further strengthened and supported by reason of the usual box-rods, one of which, 24, is located at the front of the box-body in front of the front board 13, the rod being provided with a head at one end and a wingnut 25 at the opposite end. The other boxrod (designated as 26) is located outside of the tail-board 14 and is also provided with a head at one end and a wing-nut 27 at the opposite end.

In the operation of this device when it is to be set up the floor-boards are placed in position upon the bolsters of the runninggear and are made to interlock. Next the side boards are placed in position, being connected by the box-rods 24: and 26,and finally the clamp O is brought to bear on the boxbody. Under such a construction the box-body when set up will be as durable and as rigid as a box-body having its parts permanently secured together, especially since the front board 13 and the tail-board 14: are so constructed that their upper portions at the ends will extend over and engage with the upper edges of the side boards 12 of the said boxbody.

When it is desired to remove the box-body, the locking devices 23 of the clamp are disconnected from the side boards, as heretofore stated, whereupon the clamp will drop to the ground. The box-rods are then removed from the body, and the side pieces, together with the bottom boards of the box-body, may at that time be readily removed from the running-gear. It is evident that through the medium of the handles 20 a single individual may disconnect the side boards from the bot tom boards after the said boards have been released from their connecting devices.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A box-body, consisting of bottom boards arranged for connection with each other, side boards adapted to rest upon the outermost bottom boards, and a clamp comprising a bar engaging the under surface of the bottom boards and the outer faces of the side boards, the said clamp being provided at its upper ends with rotatable L-shaped bars projecting over the upper edges of the side boards and adapted to turn down into engagement with the inner faces of said side boards.

2. A collapsible wagon-box consisting of bottom boards having interlocking connection, side boards adapted to rest upon the.

outermost bottom boards, guides for the side boards, limiting their inward movement, and a clamp consisting of a bottom member extending beneath the bottom boards and upwardly at the outside of the side boards, each upper member of the clamp being provided with a bent locking-bar journaled therein and adapted to engage the inner faces of the side boards when turned down.

3. A box-body for vehicles, comprisin g bottom boards having interlocking connection, the said bottom boards being detachable one from the other, side boards engaging with the upper faces of the outermost bottom boards, box-rods connecting the side boards, battens secured to the upper faces of the bottom boards, engaging respectively with the outer faces of the front and the tail boards, forming a portion of the body, battens secured to the under faces of the bottom boards, arranged to receive between them a bolster of the running-gear of the vehicle, and a clamping device, consisting of a bar extending beneath the bottom boards, standards at each end and a locking-barjournaled in the upper end of each standard and adapted to turn down to engage the upper inner surface of the side boards.

4. The combinatiomwith the bolsters of the running-gear of avehicle, bottom boards supported by the said bolsters, each bottom board being provided with opposing-battens on its under faces, adapted to receive between them the upper portion of a bolster, and battens secured to the upper faces of the said bottom boards at the front and at the rear, of side boards adapted to be supported by the outermost bottom boards, a guide secured to the outer face of each of the side boards, engaging with the outer longitudinal edge of its supporting bottom board, front and tail boards located between the side boards, engaging with the upper battens of the side boards, box-rods connecting the side boards and located adjacent to the front and the tail boards of the body, and a clamping device comprising a horizontal member that extends transversely beneath and in engagement with the bottom hoards, vertical members that extend upward from the horizontal member in engagement with the outer faces of the side boards, and locking devices carried by the vertical members of the clamp, the locking devices being arranged for engagement with the inner faces of the said side boards, for the purpose specified.

5. A clamp for a wagon-box, comprising a bar adapted to extend across and beneath the box, a standard at each end engaging the outer surfaces of the side boards, and an L- shaped bar journaled in the upper end of each standard and adapted to turn down so as to engage the inner surfaces of the side boards.

THOMAS FORSTNER.

Witnesses:

Jos. A. EOKSTEIN, R. PFEFFERLE.

IIO 

